Halloween is coming

I am now back from my lovely excursion, and smack back in the middle of work and responsibilities. Ah, well. Idle hands are the devil's workshop and all that. It was nice to have such a lovely break.

I have a number of things going on right now, but since Halloween is less than a week away, my preparations must buckle down in earnest. My costume is very nearly in order. I am pretty much just wearing the bellydancer outfit I assembled for Stars of Al-Ashtara-- I was not feeling particularly inspired this year and it saves me having to construct an extra costume. I could use a few more little details like a veil and maybe some bangles, but I can figure that out. I just need to finish sewing the waistband into the skirt I am making from the fabulous patterned blue muumuu I thrifted. It's a bigger job than I thought it would be, because there is so damn much fabric. I will put an elastic inside this case I'm sewing so that it will gather around my waist just fine, but that case has to be very long before the elastic can get in there to scrunch it up. Such is the nature of a muumuu, I suppose. I guess I could cut a chunk out of it to make it smaller, but I kind of like how full it is, and it wouldn't exactly eliminate a lot of sewing if I had to sew the side back up as well. So, I'm just going to keep on with the casing. I'm about a third of the way finished, so I should be able to get it done before the day.

I also need to plan the goodies menu. I want to have lots of tasty seasonal delicacies available, but I have yet to decide what they are. Pie is certainly desireable, and I will probably go with pumpkin but apple is a possibility as well. Cider is another fall favorite of mine. Besides apples and pumpkins, other foods I associate with fall are cranberries, squash, pears, ginger, and corn, so I will have to figure out what sort of things I can make involving those. Suggestions as well as the volunteering to bring dishes are welcome.

Whatever my spread, the centerpiece of it will be my newest acquisition, my beautiful skull bottle. In the liquor store on Main Street I saw that there is now a kind of vodka out called Crystal Head, which is sold in this fantastic bottle in the shape of a skull. I don't drink, and the stuff inside it was fifty bucks a pop, but I had to have one for this Halloween. So I stalked an empty one on eBay, nabbed it in triumph, and returned last night to find it already delivered and waiting!

Creepy little bugger, isn't he? I'm not sure what I'll fill him with-- kind of makes me wish I drank just so I could put some creative and brightly-colored cocktail in him --but I want him to serve a drink. Maybe cranberry juice, for the fall feel and the bright blood red. Ah, so much planning to do, and so much lovely cooking to get ready for! God, I love Halloween.